In a "conveyor belt" production lines, it is often impossible or impractical to run a single conveyor through each station in the production line. Accordingly, production lines typically include more than one conveyor, and thus, there is a need for a way to transfer objects from one conveyor to another.
In the past, objects have been transferred between separate conveyors by hand. Hand transfer, however, is extremely labor intensive and costly. In high volume production lines, hand transfer can slow down production speed significantly. Other alternatives include allowing objects on one conveyor to fall to the next conveyor, or mechanically "hitting" the objects to knock them to the next conveyor. With either of these methods it is difficult to control the flow path of the objects, and there is substantial potential for damage.
Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide an automatic, efficient and smooth method and apparatus for transferring items from one conveyor to another conveyor.
One embodiment of the invention features a push bar located adjacent one conveyor. Guide rails steer objects moving on the one conveyor along the push bar. The push bar then pushes or guides the objects across the one conveyor to an adjacent conveyor.
Thus, it is an advantage of the invention that objects are moved between conveyors by pushing, and thus, the transfer is smooth and efficient with little potential for damage.